Paragliding Gear

You basically have the paragliding gear required to get started, once you have bought yourself a paraglider, harness and helmet. In time, as in any sport, you will find there is a lot of other stuff to consider.

You might progress from the quite minimal initial requirements to
just get you down the hill, through to adding a few basic flying
instruments if you later step up to cross country flying.

And for the experts and competition flyers, paragliding gear really starts to get hi-tech.

The Basics

Look at practically any paragliding picture these days, and the pilot will be wearing a helmet. Buying a
paragliding helmet
is one of the essentials, up there with harness and canopy.

While it's possible
to operate a paraglider while dressed in a tuxedo and wearing ballroom
dancing shoes, in practice some common-sense rules apply to
paragliding clothing!
For your first few learning adventures just wear any casual, hard-wearing clothes that are appropriate to the climate.

Exercise some common sense with your paragliding apparel, taking
into account the site you will be flying at. Flexible lace-up shoes or
boots should be considered essential paragliding gear.

A paragliding harness
will be required. For the first few lessons, you will probably be using
club paragliding gear. But when the time comes to visit a paraglider
shop to buy your own wing, you will need to look at paragliding
harnesses as well.

It's a bit inconvenient trying to carry a paraglider canopy by itself, so a
paraglider stuff bag
comes in handy during local soaring. You can land, stuff everything away
quickly and conveniently, and then head back to the launch area.

Backpacks,
which are often sold with the paraglider, are more than just a simple
bag and are more appropriate when you are actually travelling somewhere
with all your paragliding equipment. In fact, as of 2007, some harnesses
such as the
Apco Chairbag
are available which serve as both paragliding harness and backpack!

It's hardly essential gear, but there's quite a range of eye-catching paragliding t-shirts
available on-line. You won't find any in your local department stores
or even sports shops though, the sport is pretty tiny compared to most
others.

Use the Schools

Many of the well-known paragliding schools are also agents for the
top-quality gear you need. It is often possible to pick up good used
paragliding gear through your school contacts as well. The instructor
you have spent the most time with is the best person to advise you on
the right gear for you.

The factors considered are:

your natural flying ability

your budget

where you want to go in the sport

An example. You might be a well-to-do retiree, and have seen other older people
happily soaring up and down the local sand dune site not far from where
you live. You think 'Great! I could enjoy doing that forever!'. Your
instructor might recommend buying the latest new DHV-1 paraglider from
his favorite manufacturer of paragliding gear. Very easy to fly,
adequate performance.

Another example. You are a keen 25
year old hang-glider pilot, but have now fallen in love with paragliding
instead. However, your finances are limited. Your instructor recognizes
your above-average ability, and your keen desire to fly as far as
possible cross-country. He recommends a good used paraglider just
recently put on the market by someone he knows. The canopy is rated
DHV-1/2, has very good performance for its class. It has a one or two
minor handling quirks that are nothing you can't cope with.

Here's a link to some pages that are a bit out of date now. You will
find write-ups for a number of paraglider manufacturers, and a
paraglider design by each manufacturer. Most of the wings are a few
years old now.